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Review by JodieW1 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

Posted: 21 Mar 2020, 14:37
by JodieW1
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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The story of Strong Heart is a heart-warming one of family and friendship. It tells the tale of a grandfather befriending his granddaughter whom he never met before and wasn’t even aware existed until then. It showed two friends supporting the grandfather in his hiking quest to visit his own grandfather’s grave. It tells of Sarah’s seemingly tough exterior but true strong, brave and loving personality. It connects the dots between the ancient past and present through Sarah’s surreal step into the past. Was it a vision of a past-life experience or was it just a dream? Whatever it was; it provided Tom, William, Myra and Scientist Sergeii with a much-sought-after-insight into the journey of the first people that ever lived. It told of the time of the Ice Age and the big animals that walked the Earth.

When I decided to read this book, I thought it would be more of a story of Tom’s struggle to connect with his wayward, head-strong granddaughter who would undoubtedly struggle against reforming or connecting. However, what the story truly shows is that Sarah has been the heroine all along. Her courage to deal with her mother’s passing, her step grandfather and grandmother, and then being pressured into taking a treacherous hike with complete strangers, proves her resilience. She teaches them all about patience, compassion, strength, belief and understanding.

I liked most that Charlie Sheldon was able to create an entire story within a story through the retelling of Sarah’s experience or dream. The switch in the way Sarah and the other characters spoke, the native names used and the descriptions of the environment and way of life of these new characters allows you to step right in and visualize everything that Sarah supposedly saw and felt. It truly takes you on their voyage and makes you want to read even more about what happens when they finally arrive home. Did Strong Heart choose Thrower? Did Pretty Face get what was coming to him? Do they ever go in search of other wives?

There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about the book. It was engaging and spun a quite believable story of the daring, grueling journey of our ancestors. I rate the book 4 out of 4 stars.

The book did not have incidences of eroticism or vulgar language. I would recommend it to teenagers and adults who enjoy a story of adventure, family-bonding and a little history lesson albeit fictional.

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Strong Heart
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